SCA President’s Message - Verona Public Schools · SCA President’s Message Welcome to the first issue of the HW SA Newsletter for the 2014-2015 school year. We had our first SA

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SCA President’s Message Welcome to the first issue of the HBW SCA Newsletter for the 2014-2015 school year.

We had our first SCA meeting on September 17th. Thank you to all who came to the meeting, please continue to attend the rest of our meetings.

The SCA board has been very busy planning many activities for our students. We have had the 5th and 6th grade socials. Thank you to all the chaperones and all who donated snacks for the students. Students have been preparing their spooky drawings for our Halloween Window Painting on October 25th. We had many beautiful Class Baskets at Back-to-School Night – thank you to the committee that worked so hard putting these together and congratulations to all of our winners. The Beautification Committee was hard at work all summer long keeping the grounds at HBW lush and beautiful. Thank you to all of our families with “green thumbs” that helped out. This committee is still working into the fall with new plantings and mulch. Our fall fundraisers are doing very well – Kidstuff Coupon Books, subscriptions to the Verona-Cedar Grove Times and HBW Sportswear.

Thank you to all that participated.

We want to thank all of the SCA volunteers that have worked so hard to bring these activities to fruition. To learn more about SCA activities or how you can get involved, join us at our SCA meetings. Our next meeting is November 11th at 7:30 pm in the Media Center.

In the meantime, should you have any suggestions, ideas or thoughts that you would like to share, please contact us – Pam Priscoe – [email protected] or Kelli Strlekar – [email protected].

We would like to thank our HBW SCA Newsletter Editor Kathy Emanuilidis. She has made our newsletters fun and interesting!!!

A special thank you to Barbara Yeates for all her time and dedication over the years to the HBW SCA!

We wish all of the HBW families and staff a Healthy, Happy and Joyous Holiday Season!

Pam and Kelli

SCA Newsletter SCA Co-Presidents: Pam Priscoe and Kelli Strlekar Fall 2014

Did you know?

The Verona SCA stands for—

Verona School Community Association, a partnership of home and school that

enriches your child’s educational experience.

UPCOMING 2014/15

SCA Meetings

November 11, 2014

January 14, 2015

March 11, 2015

May 13, 2015

Note: All meetings are held in the HBW

Library/Media Center @ 7:30pm.

All parents welcome!

Issue No. 1

SCA Welcome

Principal’s Message

Around the “Horne…” Classes & Clubs

Sports Beat

SCA Pet Causes

Key Dates

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Dear H.B.W. Family:

As the end of October is upon us and Halloween is tomorrow, I want to em-phasize what a great school opening we had. Our fall is always jam-packed with ways for students to get involved at school from socials, to clubs, to wearing pajamas on pajama day, to window painting, and by having fun in costume at H.B.W. Encourage your child to stay involved. It is only when that happens that we main-tain a great school culture of hard work and fun be-cause school is tough enough without making room for fun!

This fall, we had excellent assemblies for students on the subject of internet safety. Students, teachers, and the parents who attended learned a lot! I for one did-n’t realize how unsafe and un-private our online lives are even if we think we have checked all of the right settings! Sergeant Rich also stressed the importance of not putting anything online that students wouldn’t want there forever because mistakes are almost im-possible to delete online. If you ever have any ques-tions about online safety, you can email Mr. Kish, our technology teacher. He has given parent workshops on this topic in the past. The staff and I will continue to look for and bring quality speakers to H.B.W. If you have suggestions for speakers, we would love to hear from you.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place in mid-November. I encourage you to come and meet with your child’s teachers so you can continue to solidify your partnership with them. It’s important that great partnerships are formed because when that happens, we see excellent results from our kids.

Warm wishes,

Mrs. McNeal

Mrs. McNeal

From the Principal’s Desk… Ms. Yvette McNeal

1. Three dinner guests, past or pre-sent? Shakespeare — it would need to be dinner and a few movies. Would love to show him how his plays have been translated for the modern era with modern technology.

My Grandmother — I’d love to have her pot roast one more time and to introduce her to my husband who she never got a chance to meet.

The HBW principal 50 years from now — It would be interesting to see how the job and the school has changed over time.

2. Your first thought when you woke up this morning? My first thought was that I had to reach out to the assembly presenter for Wednesday to see what technolo-gy we needed to set up for his presentation.

3. Your favorite word? Least favor-ite? “Yes” and least favorite, “reform“

4. Last book you read? “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

5. Your perfect pizza? Fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil

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Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

What’s Happening at HBW?

Welcome back to the 2014-2015 school year at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School. School is off to a great start and students and teachers are already busy filling the hallways with student projects, assignments, and artwork. Please remember to check out our hall dis-plays whenever you are here visiting the school.

September and October were a busy time for our students as they began a new school year. Many summer reading projects were well on their way and are displayed throughout the classrooms and hallways.

The fifth grade is busy getting adjusted to being new at HBW.

Much time has been spent on helping the students with the various

things that are different from elementary school. Lockers, sched-

ules, periods, changing for gym, eating at 10:15 am, and having

multiple teachers in a day are just to name a few. As a part of

the summer reading assignment, students all created a book ad on the book they read. The

students’ book ads are on display outside their classrooms making the hallway bright and

cheery.

In social studies, mapping skills are the main topic of study. It is always important to be

able to find your way especially in a new school this size.

In science classes, students are studying the weather and learning all about various related

topics. All students will be working on Cloud Projects. This project is designed to allow the

students to demonstrate their understanding of clouds and weather.

For a culminating activity in map skills, students in Mrs. Clifford’s and Mrs. Moy’s social

studies classes are becoming cartographers. They are designing their own parks, zoos, re-

sorts, shopping malls etc. Each design will come with a map and map keys to guide any visi-

tors through their parks. This is a fun way to solidify their directional skills, map key

reading, and grid square reading skills.

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Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

In the sixth grade, students enjoyed writing Book Reviews as the

culminating project for their summer reading. Students created

book reviews and summaries, and then presented their book talks

in class.

The sixth grade has currently been conducting science inquiries

and studying how scientists ask and answer questions about the

natural world. Students have asking and answering questions such

as, "Does an ice cube melt faster if it is broken in pieces?", "Will the growth of plants be affected

if we double the fertilizer in the soil?", "How can we uncover what is inside a given space if we

cannot get into that space?", and "What happens when you mix water, oil, and food color-

ing?" Sixth grade students saw the importance of using the scientific method to answer these

questions. They often concluded that multiple trials must be done in order for scientists to come

to an accurate conclusion. The sixth graders are looking forward to using the scientific method

throughout the year to help answer questions they have about the natural world.

The 6th grade math students began the year exploring the famous Handshake Problem leading in-

to our study of patterns, expressions, properties, and algebra. This is a complex problem with

multiple methods for arriving at the solution. Ask the sixth graders to teach you how to solve the

problem for any number of people. Some of our math students created original patterns to be

compiled in class pattern books. Students eagerly anticipate being able to figure out each other's

patterns!

The 6th grade social studies students began learning about how the United States was formed

and the symbols that represent our great nation, such as our national seal which is our country's

coat of arms. In response, students each created an individual Coat of Arms and presented it to

the class along with why it is representative of them. Pleas, come check out their beautiful work

on display in the hallway leading to the annex! Students also created Our Classroom Constitution

as a guide for the expectations they have of themselves and of each other, as they explore how

the United States Constitution came to be.

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Media Center

New fifth graders participated in a fun lesson to learn how the media center is organized. Mrs. Kleinknecht

showed students a video she made in order to give students a virtual tour. She paused the video at intervals

to check for students' understanding of key concepts. By the end of the lesson, students realized that the

signs in the library are like signs on the road directing them where to go. Students checked out books, and

Mrs. Kleinknecht can't wait for them to return!

Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

Last spring after studying the solar system, students designed science experiments

that could fit inside of ping pong balls. These "PongSats" were sent up into space on

September 28th. Students are anxiously anticipating the return of their PongSats,

especially since the first chapter that they are studying in seventh grade science is

the atmosphere! The PongSats traveled to a height of about 100,000 feet where there

is less gravity, less air, less pressure and cold temperatures, so these conditions should have some very interesting ef-

fects on the experiments inside of the ping pong balls! The Verona-Cedar Grove Times did an article on this awesome

experiment! It can be viewed at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/verona-students-participate-in-out-of-

this-world-experiment-1.1097049

As a chapter project, Ms. Heckel's seventh grade science students are studying a real-life application of their chapter

on the Earth's Atmosphere. They are investigating how climate changes as one climbs up Mount Kilimanjaro, in addition

to the causes and effects of altitude sickness. Hunter Tramel's mom, Joelle, came in and shared with the class her ex-

perience climbing Kilimanjaro to help the kids learn more for their research.

Ms. Heckel was one of twenty-five teachers from the Mid-Atlantic States who were chosen to be a

part of a National Science Foundation Grant. She went to a week of training this summer and during

the school year, her classes will be working with scientists, who are experts in their field, who will be

stationed in Antarctica studying how global warming is affecting Antarctic ecosystems and, in particu-

lar, the impact on the Adelie penguin. Throughout the year, students will participate in lessons about

the science that the scientists are doing. Additionally, they will be following a blog (being written by a

professional writer with pictures by a professional science photographer), and the kids will get to par-

ticipate in a video conference with the scientists from Antarctica in January. The project will culmi-

nate with students working on research projects which they will present at a Research Symposium at

the Liberty Science Center in April.

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Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

In the Music department, the Gold Band is preparing for our winter concert in December.

They will be playing several seasonal selections and other well-known band pieces for the en-

joyment of parents, students, and the Verona community. Also the Annual Cheesecake Fund-

raiser is well on its way and all band and chorus members are busy fundraising for the music

department. Do not forget to purchase your cheesecakes!

Brooke Cooney sang the national anthem and Catherine Welch sang "God Bless America" for

the 9/11 ceremony. What an amazing tribute to mark the remembrance of that day.

Student Council Elections for the 2014-2015 school year took place over the past two months of school. Stu-

dents interested in being potential candidates met with club advisors Mrs. Albano, Ms. Kunkel, and

Mrs. Pietruchia.

During the kick off meeting students were given guidelines and criteria to follow in order to run for Class

President or Student Council Executive Board. Students had speeches to write, posters and stickers to create

and hang, and finally campaigning to do.

On Thursday October 23rd all potential candidates came in front of the entire HBW student body, staff, and

parents to give their speech. What a very exciting time, but nervous time as well. The student body then vot-

ed electronically in the Media Center in their Social Studies classes.

Congratulations to the following 2014-2015 Student Council Members! We are looking forward to a wonderful year.

President: Reilly Hughes

Vice President: Alyssa Deo

Recorder: Maeve McGinley

Treasurer: Jack Duggan

5th Grade Class President: Matteo DeVito

6th Grade Class Presidents: Jackson Seawright & Renee Schuldiner

7th Grade Class President: Christian Dionisio

8th Grade Class President: Kate Ashley

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Soccer Club All 5-8th grade students are invited to join the soccer club. We meet on Tuesdays from 3-

3:45 in the gym or outside, depending on the weather, from October through Decem-

ber. Interested students should see Ms. Heckel for a permission slip.

Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

The Dream Team sponsored Christina's Walk for JDRF during the week of October 13th-

18th.All students walked during gym class on October 18th. Last year, we raised around

$500.00 and would like to raise the same or more this year. We would like to raise awareness

as to the concerns and issues involved with JDRF and show school support for of our very

own HBW students.

Box Tops for Education was a great success last year. The Dream Team raised approxi-

mately $1500.00 to be spent on something for our school. We would like to thank all who

participated with this program. Again, remember to collect Box Tops throughout the year

and bring them to your homeroom teacher.

Red Ribbon was celebrated the week of October 20-24th. Daily themes were posted with re-

gards to supporting a drug and alcohol free environment. Daily participants will be included in

a homeroom prize drawing, happening on October 24th. Participation is greatly encouraged.

Students have been reading books and Yearbooks are on sale online now for $55 or in school

for $60. Yearbooks can be purchased online at www.yearbookforever.com. Prices will in-

crease on November 22. Parent ads are also on sale now. They will be on sale through No-

vember 21 and can also be purchased at www.yearbookforever.com.

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Class & Club News By: Marisa Albano and MaryAnne Halbert

VAA CLUB

All 5th – 8th grade students are invited to join the VAA Club (Verona Athletic Associa-

tion) with Mrs. Albano and Mrs. Useche. We meet on Wednesdays from 3-3:45 in the

gym or outside, depending on the weather, from September through June. This club is

a good opportunity for students to make new friends and explore fun athletic activi-

ties. Interested students should see Mrs. Albano or Mrs. Useche for a permission slip.

Come and join the fun every Wednesday in the gym!!!!

1. Student portraits were passed out in homeroom in early November. If you have any

problems with your photos (i.e. wrong package, did not receive your package, etc.) please

contact Picture Perfect Photography at 973.751.4800 – do not contact Ms. Heckel or Ms.

Rusignuolo – they are unable to assist you with these issues. You can also call Picture

Perfect if your child forgot to hand-in their order envelope. You can order photos over

the phone with a credit card.

2. Photo retakes are on Wednesday, November 12. Students will be called down by grade

starting at 1pm. If students wish to have their photos retaken, they should come down to

the auditorium when their grade is called. Individual students will not be called down.

3. Students will only receive complimentary ID cards with their first set of photos. None

will be issued with retakes. Lost/misplaced/stolen ID cards will not be replaced.

4. Retake Costs:

~ $5 – If you just don’t like your pictures and want them retaken.

YOU MUST BRING YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOS WITH YOU!

~ Free – If there is something wrong with your original photos (i.e. eyes closed, etc.)

Again, YOU MUST BRING YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOS WITH YOU!

5. If you did not have your portrait taken on the original photo days, you may have your pic-

ture taken on November 12 as well. Extra order forms/envelopes to order portraits are

available from Ms. Rusignuolo.

HBW Portrait Retake Information

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FOOTBALL By Dave Gautieri

On the Field with the Verona Eagles As the end of the regular season approaches for the Verona Ea-gles football teams, there is a lot to be excited about. The A Team which is made up of 7th & 8th graders has a 6-1 record and is in first place. The boys have been working hard since mid-August with the goal of winning the Super Bowl. They will be one of the favorites in November when the playoffs begin. The AJV team got off to a great start on the field and has the coaches excited about the prospects for next year. The B Team is tied for first place with a record of 5-1-1. Like the A Team, they will enter the playoffs as one of the teams with a chance of winning it all. The B Team is made up of 5th & 6th grade players and what is most impressive is the number of boys playing in these two classes. In fact the B Team has so many boys that in addition to the varsity there are two JV teams, Maroon and White. The benefit of having two teams is that all boys get plenty of playing time. The 2014 season is already a success on all levels as the boys have learned discipline, conditioning, and hard-work. Good luck the rest of the season!

Sports Beat...

WRESTLING By Sam Zamloot

The Verona Junior Wrestling program is

now accepting registration forms for the

upcoming season. We had some regis-

tration sessions in the past few weeks

but it's not too late to sign up your child.

The program is open to 2nd thru 8th

graders who live in Verona and the prac-

tices are split between the younger and

older kids.

Practices start at the end of November

and the season goes to the end of Febru-

ary. We've built the program into one of

the top teams in Essex County and we

need new wrestlers to continue the tradi-

tion.

For more information or a registration

form, please contact Sam Zamloot at

[email protected] or 973-239-

0835.

Fall practice at Centennial.

Photo by Dave Gautieri.

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SOCCER By John Hogan

Verona United Kicks It Up!

This past summer the world event which happens every four years was on stage in Brazil, the FIFA Soccer World Cup, and Verona United’s Soccer

teams were watching and were excited!

The excitement of the World Cup led to the Summer being filled with nightly practices, getting geared up for the fall season from 14 teams made up of HBW students. The teams which consist of 5th through 8th graders in various age groups (U11Gx2 , U12G, U13G, U14Gx2 & U11Bx3, U12Bx2, U13Bx2, U14B) kicked off the season in early September. Below are

some highlights from some of the teams so far:

U11 Girls Red Devils– Won the Essex Fall Tune Up Tournament to start the season against

teams from our area and have scored the most goals in their division.

U11 Boys Wolverines – Starting the season 3-1-1 after going up a division from last year.

U11 Boys Red Devils sporting ten HBW 5th and 6th graders on its roster, began the fall season in top form by taking 1st place in their season-opening Essex Fall Tune Up Tourna-ment. They're currently 2-1-2, with 5 games remaining in Northern Counties SA league

play.

U12 Girls Witches – are building on momentum with the addition of several new players, they take their talents on the road staging as the “Verona Witches” at a Halloween Tourna-

ment.

U12 Boys – Venom – are having a successful season after moving up a flight in the com-

petitive Northern Counties League.

U13 Boys –Cobras – Have won two tournaments, Essex Fall Tune Up Tournament and the Monroe-Woodbury Columbus Day Tournament. The boys are presently playing in the A

Flight, the highest division in the league, comprised of teams throughout Northern Jersey.

U14 Girls - which includes 13 HBW 8th graders, are playing in the highest division of the Northern Counties League this season. Midway through the season the girls have been very competitive in the majority of their games, and are looking forward to a strong finish

to the season.

The girls and boys will finish up their season in the middle of November and look forward to getting back on the pitch come March/April for spring season. If there is any interest in coming

out in the Spring or next Fall please contact the VUSC at [email protected].

Sports Beat...

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Sports Beat...

VERONA RECREATION DEPARTMENT

Middle School Program Update!

By Marissa Landolfi

The Verona Recreation Department will be offering Basketball for middle school students for the Fall/Winter 2014-15 season. These programs include; A Recreation In-Town Basketball League and a Suburban Travel League. Registration for these programs is now in progress.

For the Recreation In-Town League; you must reg-ister online or in-person by November 1

st or you

will be put on a wait list. There is a workout held on November 1

st at designated times for each

grade group. There will be a late fee of $10 on all of the middle school basketball programs after No-vember 2

nd. For more information, please visit our

website, www.veronanj.org/recreation.

For the Suburban Travel Basketball League, try-outs were held on Oct. 23, 24 and 25 at designat-ed times for each grade. Teams have already been decided but for more information, please visit our website, www.veronanj.org/recreation.

Stay in the know! Be the first to be notified about upcoming registrations, such as our Winter pro-grams for Middle School Students (Music Theater, Team Adventure, Artist Studio and MORE!) For more information on our Recreation programs and to join our mailing list, please visit our website, www.veronanj.org/recreation.

Also, NEW at the Verona Recreation Department, we are now on Facebook!

Visit www.facebook.com/veronarecreation. You can have immediate access to the latest program information, cancellations, town news, registra-tions and MORE!

By Manny Triggiano

The fall baseball and softball seasons are wind-

ing down, and many of our Verona teams have

been competing hard in hopes of winning a

championship, but also to have fun and improve

their skills for the upcoming 2015 season.

The 12U baseball team, which was made up of

6th and 7th graders, finished their fall season at 7

-4, losing in the finals to West Orange. Despite

the final game loss, the team played hard and

made great improvements throughout the sea-

son, taking a 4-game winning streak into the

game. In the semi-finals the team had a thrill-

ing final at-bat, two out come from behind walk-

off win after being down by 3 runs.

In Softball, the 12U team just finished its fall

season with a record of 13-3-2, playing in two

fall tournaments (with a record of 4-0-2) against

club and town teams. The team enjoyed fantas-

tic pitching and fielding success, batted a collec-

tive .427 and scored 173 runs over those 18

games making for a highly anticipated, promis-

ing Spring season. The 14U team came into the

fall season after winning their summer league

championship. Their strong bats continued and

lead them to an undefeated season. They too

look forward to continuing their success in the

spring.

We hope our winter is much milder than last

year, this way we can look forward to an earlier

start to spring and getting back on the diamond.

Spring travel tryouts will take place on Novem-

ber 14-15 (Softball) and November 22-23

(Baseball). Registration for in-town program will

begin on November 21 for both online and in

person (also on 11/22). We encourage every-

one to sign up and

enjoy what America's past time has to offer.

More information and updates will be available

on our website,

www.veronabaseballsoftball.com.

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SCA Pet Causes

Sr. Pet Reporter Roger Emanuilidis

It doesn’t get much easier! Two great ways to buy the things you need and support your kids and the

Verona Schools!

TARGET RedCard

REGISTER YOUR TARGET RedCard and earn

1% back for your school, and 5% off for you!

Just visit: www.Target.com/tcoe

Click on the Verona school of your choice

Once that is done, so are you! Your donations

keep coming without any more effort on your part!

How great is that?

Last year, only 124 of our approximately 2000

families raised over $2000. Just think what we

could do if everyone got involved.

Tell friends and family too.

SHOPAROO

SHOP – SNAP – EARN

Yep, it’s that simple!

Shoparoo turns pictures of your everyday shopping

receipts into cash donations and sweepstakes entries for

your school with this free app.

Get started today:

1. Download the free Shoparoo app

2. Select your school from the list and start taking pic-

tures of your receipts - shop anywhere, buy anything!

There’s no limit to how much money we can raise with

Shoparoo - the more supporters, the more we will raise

for our schools. Check out shoparoo.com to learn more.

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2014/15 Key Upcoming Dates…*

Contact Us: Have an HBW-related story, announcement or just some fun pictures you would like to submit for consideration? Email to Kathy Emanuilidis at [email protected].

Note: The H.B. Whitehorne SCA Newsletter is a three-time a year e-publication with Fall, Winter, Spring/Summer frequency and intended exclusively for the H.B. Whitehorne family.

November 2014

3rd Mon Music Fundraiser Cheesecake Deliv-

ery for Grades 5 & 8

4th Tue

Election Day

1/2 Day SCA Snacks (Everything

$1.00)

12:30 Dismissal

5th Wed Music Fundraiser Cheesecake

Delivery for Grades 6 & 7

6th &

7th Thu-Fri School Closed—NJEA Convention

11th Tue SCA Meeting @ 7:30 in Library

12th Wed

Marking Period Ends

Picture Retake Day

14th Fri 7th Grade French Trip

17th Mon Report Cards Posted

18th Tue 12:30 Dismissal

Daytime Parent/Teacher Conf.

19th Wed 12:30 Dismissal

Evening Parent/Teacher Conf.

20th Thu 12:30 Dismissal

Daytime Parent/Teacher Conf.

21st Fri 7th Grade Social in Gym

26th Wed

12:30 Dismissal

Club Pic Day

Turkey Trot @ 12:30

27th &

28th Thu-Fri Happy Thanksgiving! School Closed

*Dates subject to change.

December 2014

4th &

5th Thu-Fri In School Holiday Concert

10th Wed Holiday Concert @ VHS, 7pm

23rd Tue 12:30 Dismissal

24th-

31st Wed-Wed Holiday Break—School Closed

January 2015

1st &

2nd Thu-Fri Holiday Break—School Closed

5th Mon School Reopens

9th Fri 5th Grade Social in Gym

14th Wed SCA Meeting @ 7:30 in Library

19th Mon MLK Day—School Closed

30th Fri Marking Period Ends

6th Grade Social in Gym